USC, Clemson drop in latest AP Poll

COLUMBIA, SC (TheBigSpur.com) South Carolina dropped nine spots in the latest Associated Press Poll released on Sunday morning. The Gamecocks, ranked No. 20 in the new poll, suffered a 23-21 loss at the hands of Tennessee on a last second field goal.

The Gamecocks (5-2, 3-2) have been ranked 56 consecutive weeks in the poll, which extends their school record-long streak. South Carolina is tied with Stanford for fifth-longest current streak of being ranked in the AP Top 25.

Head coach Steve Spurrier and his team will return to game action this Saturday, October 26 on the road against Missouri.

Alabama holds onto the top spot in the national rankings with its 52-0 victory over Arkansas on Saturday night at home. The Crimson Tide have now been ranked for 90 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll.

After Alabama, there was a lot of shuffling among the teams in the conference. The next three teams ranked - No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 11 South Carolina - all lost. Outside of the conference, three more top 10 teams lost, causing mass movement in the rankings.

In the ACC, Clemson dropped six spots to No. 9 after losing to Florida Sate at home.

Missouri was the big winner though knocking off Florida at home on Saturday afternoon. The win, which keeps the Tigers atop the SEC East, vaults them nine spots into the top 10 at No. 5 in the AP Poll.

LSU dropped to No. 13 in the rankings while Texas A&M slipped to No. 14. The Gators entered the week ranked No. 22 nationally in the AP Poll but the loss to Missouri put them out of the rankings.

Georgia suffered its second straight loss, this one on the road to Vanderbilt, and is now just barely in the rankings. The Bulldogs fell out of the poll.

The lowest ranked SEC team entering Saturday's game was Auburn, which was No. 24. With the victory on the road against Texas A&M, the Tigers jump 13 spots and enter this weekend's slate of games ranked No. 11 nationally.